Verona >> Every year in June the Village of Canastota draws national attention as boxers from around the world gather for the International Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

Friday night the boxing spotlight again shone on Central New York, this time nine miles east as Turning Stone Resort Casino hosted ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

One of the most anticipated bouts for the fans in attendance actually started before the cameras began rolling when Canastota's lightweight sensation Ryon "Big Youth" McKenzie put his undefeated record on the line against Steven "Too Sharp" Tyner out of Albany. The crowd went wild for McKenzie during his introduction and cheered even louder when he landed a solid shot early in the first round.

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"It's a pleasure to come out in front of the fans," said McKenzie, who originally hails from the Bahamas. "There's no added pressure. You've got to go in there and do what you do and execute your plan."

That McKenzie did, whipping the crowd into a frenzy when he began to pummel Tyner on the ropes early in the second round. Big Youth continued to keep momentum in his favor in the third, landing a left hook on Tyner's body and a couple of rights to his face. McKenzie landed another flurry of punches to open the fourth round, including two strong right hooks to Tyner's face. While the Albany fighter took some punishment he refused to fall in the fourth. Too Sharp actually landed a brief flurry of punches early in the fifth but McKenzie took over again with a series of powerful right hooks to Tyner's face. He would land a couple more in the final round and came away with a unanimous decision to push his record to 14-0-0 with 11 knockouts. Tyner fell to 3-10-2.

"Stick and move," said McKenzie of his strategy. "I wanted to shoot the jab because he's a flat-footed fighter. The guy had a really good chin, I'll give him that."

While McKenzie clearly came out on top in his bout, the main event had a much more controversial ending. NABO Middleweight Champion Brian "The Warrior" Vera put his belt on the line against Donatas "Bondas" Bondaravas during the final bout.

The challenger began the fight with a nicked-up nose that would loom large in the end. Vera quickly had the cut open in the first round but Bondas landed a couple solid punches in the second round. The shots didn't seem to faze the champion, who danced around the ring with a big grin on his face. Vera kept smirking in the third round while Bondaravas landed more punches, including a pair of strong left hooks to Vera's face early and a pair of right hooks late.

Vera showed he had a good reason to smirk in the fourth round as he started to pound on Bondaravas. The challenger was clearly tiring and blood began running down his face as Vera pounded his open cut. Meanwhile, the only thing on the Warrior's face was his ever-present smirk. During the fifth and sixth rounds it was Bondaravas looking more like a warrior with blood pouring down his face as the fighters traded blows. Late in the sixth referee Charlie Fitch called time out to have Bondas' face wiped off. In the seventh round Bondaravas appeared to find new life, causing Vera to keel over after a hard shot to the ribs and landing several punches on his face.

Unfortunately for Bondaravas, his face continued to bleed and it proved to be his undoing. Fitch asked him if he could see after the seventh and Bondaravas responded "not so good." At that moment Fitch called the fight, drawing jeers from the crowd and vehement protests from Bonas' corner. They were to no avail and Vera's technical knockout allowed him to keep his belt and improve to 23-6 while Bondaravas fell to 17-4-1.

The co-feature had Jackson "Demolidor" Junior Dos Santos putting his undefeated record on the line against Umberto "El Don" Savigne for the WBO Latino Light Heavyweight title. After an even first round Dos Santos appeared to have Savigne on the ropes late in the second. El Don punched his way out and knocked Demolidor down with 20 seconds left in the round. He continued to dole out punishment in the third, the highlight being a strong right-left combo. Savigne, fighting with "Irish" Micky Ward in his corner, knocked Dos Santos down temporarily twice more in the fourth. Savigne put Dos Santos on the canvas a third time with 43 seconds left in the round and referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight, giving Savine a victory via TKO and the title. He improved to 11-1-0 while Dos Santos fell to 14-1-0.

The first televised bout featured a pair of boxers making their pro debuts as junior middleweights. Taras Shelestyuk, who took bronze for the Ukraine in the 2012 Olympics, squared off against New York City's Kamal Mahummad. Shelestyuk showed how he earned that medal, pummeling Mahummad until he took a knee early in round one. Shelestyuk was booed when he feigned a punch at his kneeling opponent. They quickly turned to cheers moments later when Mahummad again hit his knee and referee Richard Pakodzi stopped the fight, giving Shelestyuk a victory via technical knockout just 1:39 into the bout.

John "Bullet Proof" Worthy faced unbeaten Antoine "Action" Douglas in the third televised bout. Both fighters came out swinging with Douglas taking control in the first round. He stayed in control with a series of left jabs early in the second and closed the round with some strong right hooks. Worthy tried to take advantage of his reach in the third but he had no answer for Douglas' quickness. In the fourth and final round Worthy had Douglas on the ropes but it wasn't enough as Douglas won by unanimous decision to improve to 4-0-0. Worthy dropped to 3-5-0 with the loss.

Junior welterweights Lavais "Red" Williams of Rochester and Calvin " Pritchard of Toledo, Ohio opened the evening's action on the first undercard. Pritchard was in control early but Williams fought back and appeared to be in control. However, the judges ruled the bout a majority draw, eliciting jeers from the crowd and a puzzled look from Williams, whose record stands at 1-0-1. Pritchard moved to 2-6-3 following the draw.